Happy Birthday Chad!

Our first born is 11 today! Can you believe it? He's told us that soon he won't like Star Wars toys anymore - because they're not cool (try telling that to Derrick!) - but for now, it's still a Star Wars holiday at our house! We love you Chad and are very happy to have you as our son!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD!!!

The ortho will love us...

This is such my kid! We didn't teach him this, but he LOVES sucking his thumb! Another one for braces!

We just love him so much!!!

Field Day

Just some cute kids enjoying Field Day - kind of like school Olympics, and apparently done at all the schools in Camas. Pretty fun. I was on the second shift for hula-hoop. There was a second grader that hula-hooped for 2 hours, 32 minutes in the first shift, beating the school record! Think of that workout!

I cannot hula-hoop for anything! I tried a whole bunch of times, and that thing just refused to stay up around my waist!

Summer's here!

Macy and Mrs. Andros

Mrs. Sleight and Chad

Luke and Mrs. Mahoney

Last day of school. Kids went to school at 9:00 and got out at 10:50. That's my kind of day! And while they were there, all they did was play and have a final assembly. Can't beat it! I even showed up with Krispy Kremes. Gotta love it! Since Chad's birthday is on Monday, he wanted something special today, and I figured that since it would still be early in the morning, donuts were just what was needed!

Chad is now done with elementary school. Can you believe it!?!!! He starts middle school next year. I feel so old! :O)

Another baby boy

Congratulations to our friends, the Morrisons, for welcoming Evan Patrick yesterday! Weighing in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces - almost as big as Reed - he is welcomed home by Kelan, Kathy and big sisters Bailey, Shannon and Makenna! We can't wait to meet you little Evan!!!

Summer fun

Enjoying popsicles on a nice summer day. We just walked back from the park where we had our last den meeting - treats and playing - with the Webelos, and the girls were hot and needed some cooling off. Perfect summer treat!

Macy, her good friend, Sierra, and Haley

The State of Utah

The Utah state "cookie" is finally done! It's part of the extra-credit for Chad's state report. But of course we had to make our "cookie" out of Jell-o, because after all, Jell-o is the official state snack of Utah - did you know that? See, learn something new everyday!

We really had to talk Chad into using Jell-o and not making a cookie, which would've been easier, but once he saw how cool his was compared to everyone else's cookies, he was convinced! Not that their cookies were bad or anything, but he was the only one with a cool wiggly, jiggly state! Gotta love the Jell-o!

FYI though, icing starts to melt on Jell-o as it warms up. Just thought you should know!

A new baby in the house...

Not ours! The Kolbe's! Congratulations to Pam, Steve and Megan on their new little baby girl, Isabel Shae! Hugs and kisses to all!

Sunday afternoon in our house...

After church meetings, Boy Scouts meetings, finishing up the 5th grade state report, this is what happens next...

The (Not Pasadena) Rose Parade

Macy, Haley and our friends, Julie, Brian, Greta, Anna & Ian Brown
Luke playing his washboard drum

So, in Portland every year they have their own "Rose Parade". It is always in June, supposedly, rain or shine (go figure!) and it is in honor of the roses. Gee, I think I could make up my own parade at that rate. Anyways, today was the "Junior Rose Parade" - the "real" one is on Saturday - and it's a big deal around here. Chad and Luke were both in it with their school and really, for being on a much smaller scale, it was a lot of fun. The streets were closed off beforehand (and it's on a very main street in Portland), and people were in the middle playing ball, drawing with chalk, blowing bubbles, etc. Then the parade starts and it's all about the kids. Scout troops, Shriners Hospital, lots of schools, karate clubs. It was fun. So Luke walked the whole parade route playing a drum and singing with his school group, Musiking, which is like a choir, and Chad did round-off backhandsprings and cartwheels with the tumbling team. I don't think they enjoyed being in it as much as I enjoyed watching it, but the rain didn't come, so all in all, a good time was had by all!

Summer is upon us...

So, in honor of summer almost starting, I have joined Weight Watchers - yet again - and have started my own walking club (me and Cooper!). I just got back from walking about 3 miles with Cooper. Although I hate getting out of bed at 6:30 - even though I'm awake - I have started to realize that I like being out, walking around the somewhat quiet neighborhood so early in the morning (although the junior high and high school buses start picking up around 7:15). And, I really enjoyed feeling like I accomplished something when I get home, an hour later. So, here's to getting in shape! Totally down to my pre-pregnancy weight without trying, but now that I am done having babies, it's time to get back to my totally pre-pregnancy weight, or at least a lot closer, and looking and feeling a lot better about myself. So, first WW meeting tonight with Susie and a bunch of other people from church who have been going for a while, and just gotta keep up with the walking. We walked all over the neighborhood on Saturday - it was garage sale day after all! And it's really nice where we live 'cuz there are all these amazing trails behind our house.

Dream Dinners

Ok, for those of you that know me, you know how much I love to cook - NOT! So, today I was very excited to try this new thing called "Dream Dinners". It's not new in general, just new to me. A lot of people up here use it, so I wanted to try. The way it works is, you go to this place and pick out whatever different meals you want to make - they have a different calendar of menus every month. Then you go to all these mini-kitchens and follow their recipes and pre-make the meals. The great part is, all the ingredients, tools, measuring things, whatever you need, is already right in front of you (and you don't even have to clean up after yourself!). Then you just put it all into Ziploc bags, take them home and freeze them, and then you've got meals ready to cook, that actually have been prepared by you (for an extra $1 they will even put the meal together for you!). Crazy! This is definately my kind of cooking. I got a Sunday Roast, some Saucy Beef Tips and Honey & Orange Glaze Chicken - all on recommendations from friends who have tried them. Will report back once we've tried them. Works out to be about $20 a meal for 6 people... not too bad and super easy! I could like this!

Also discovered Schwan's. I was at a Stamp Camp this morning (go figure!) and the "Schwan's" man came by. Schwan's is like a giant refridgerator on wheels. They come to people's homes and have all sorts of good stuff - meat, veggies, ice cream, etc. Super cool! I have decided that I don't like the grocery stores up here, so at this rate I could never go grocery shopping again - other than Costco of course!

It's been a food-filled day! That could be June-y!

Happy June!

Can you believe it... it's June 1st!!! Crazy! Where has the year gone? For us, only 14 more days of school - yeehaw! Not that I love the kids being around all the time, saying they're bored and there's nothing to do, but I do so love not having EVERYTHING scheduled! I love the "relax-ness" (is that a word?) of summer! For us, the remainder of June and all of August are pretty "relaxed", but July is a bit crazed. A week of Girl Scout camp, a week of Cub Scout/11-year-old Scout Camp, and two weeks in Los Angeles right in the middle! We are excited though to see our friends from Cali and hopefully get a trip to Disneyland out of the deal - if it isn't too hot!

Have a super June 1st! Go out and do something "June-y" to celebrate!